Selected Publications

My civil resistance-related writings that focus on the strategic dimension of waging nonviolent resistance by ordinary people often against a brutal authoritarian regime or violent nonstate actor.

Edited book

Recovering Nonviolent History. Civil Resistance in Liberation Struggles and Nation-Making, Lynne Rienner, 2013.

Publications/Reports

Case for Civil Resistance to Russia’s Populace-Centric Warfare, Free Russia Foundation, March 2018
Nonviolent Civilian Defense to Counter Russian Hybrid Warfare, Critical Policy Issue Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Executive Summary. Review by Dr. Brian Martin.

Article

“Civil Resistance.” coauthored with Hardy Merriman. In Oxford Bibliographies in International Relations. Ed. Patrick James. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

Chapters

“Myopia of the Syrian Struggle and Key Lessons,” coauthored with Julia Taleb, Is Authoritarianism Staging a Comeback? Atlantic Council, 2015

“Nonviolent Revolutions, Struggles for Political Recognition and Democratic Transition”, in Hallward and Norman, Understanding Nonviolence: Contours and Context, Polity Press, 2014

“Poland: Forging the Polish Nation Nonviolently, 1860s-1900s” in Bartkowski eds., Recovering Nonviolent History (2013). Extended and unedited paper that constituted the basis of the chapter.

World Health Organization, in Ashish K. Vaidya, eds., Globalization. Encyclopedia of Trade, Labor, and Politics, ABC CLIO, Oxford, England: 695-705, 2006

Publications in popular press/blogosphere

2020

Guides to Helping Civil Resistance Movements and Activists Succeed, personal blog
How to Achieve Robust Discipline to Succeed: A Guide for Pro-Democracy Movements, Minds of the Movement
How Democratic States Can Effectively Support Pro-Democracy Movements, Minds of the Movement
For Members of Security Forces: A Guide to Supporting Pro-Democracy Movements, Minds of the Movement
The People vs. Lukashenko: Women-Led Resistance on the Eve of Belarus Election, Minds of the Movement

2019

The “Strategy Web”: The Little-Known Tool for Visualizing Civil Resistance-Led Conflict, Minds of the Movement
How Online Courses on Civil Resistance Can Make Real Impact, Minds of the Movement

2018

Defending the Truth: An Activist’s Guide to Fighting Foreign Disinformation Warfare, Minds of the Movement
Celebrating US Nonviolent History on the Fourth of July, Minds of the Movement
Alternative Institution-Building as Civil Resistance, Minds of the Movement
Transitional Justice: What Role for the Grassroots? Minds of the Movement

2017

Did the Arab Spring Revolutions Bring More Violence to the Middle East? (with Peter Ackerman), Minds of the Movement
Why Do Some Movements Fail to Bring Positive Outcomes, and How Can This Be Changed? Minds of the Movement
Do Civil Resistance Movements Advance Democratization? Minds of the Movement
To Dissent or Not to Dissent? Principles of Ethical Resistance for US Federal Servants Political Violence @Glance

2016

The Kremlin’s “Protest Potential” Strategy The HuffingtonPost
Popular Uprising against Democratically Elected Leaders. What Makes it Legitimate? The HuffingtonPost
Nonviolent Strategies to Defeat Totalitarians such as ISIS openDemocracy
Poland’s Liberals Strike Back. Here’s how Poles are fighting back against their authoritarian-leaning new government (coauthored with M. Stephan), Foreign Policy

2015

Kill or not to Kill. Ukrainians Opt for Nonviolent Civil Resistance, Political Violence @Glance (coauthored)
Congress: Keep an Eye on Kaczynski’s Poland, The Hill
Countering Hybrid War. Civil Resistance as a National Defense Strategy, openDemocracy
Movements Are Best Chance for Democracy. And They Must Be Helped, The HuffingtonPost
What Ukraine really needs from Washington, The Hill
Ukraine fights where it should not, with armed means neither effective nor strategic, The HuffingtonPost
Manifesto of Civilian-Led Nonviolent Defense and Resistance for Ukraine, VoxUkraine. Ukrainian version

2014

Civil resistance and grassroots mobilization against ISIS, War on the Rocks
Russians’ civil defiance against war and repression, openDemocracy
Ukraine’s Myopic Military Campaign, Kyiv Post
Wake up, Ukrainians, and reconsider your struggle, Kyiv Post
Confronting Russian-fueled insurgency, Atlantic Council
How Ukrainians ousted an autocrat: the logic of civil resistance, Atlantic Council
From China to Poland, lessons from June 4, 1989 (25th anniversary), Waging Nonviolence/openDemocracy
Ukraine needs nonviolent resistance to beat Russia, War on the Rocks
Time for Ukraine to switch to political resistance against Russian occupiers, Kyiv Post
How to beat Russian occupation with flash mobs, Foreign Policy
Challenging annexation: in Crimea, the referendum that wasn’t, openDemocracy
Ukraine explained: A nonviolent victory, openDemocracy
Die Maidan-Revolution in der Ukraine: Gewaltloser Widerstand in gewaltgeladener Situation, Ukraine Analysen, no. 130, 03/25/2014

2013

Civil resistance and armed rebellion in Syria (part I)
Aborting the Syrian revolution and four fatal beliefs (part II)

2011